The speed with which Gaetano Donizetti wrote his operas almost defies belief, especially in our more leisurely age of composition. Don Pasquale (1843), as we know, was written in eleven days. When Donizetti, newly contracted to Teatro San Carlo, fetched up in Naples in May 1835, he had already written fifty operas. He was thirty-seven years old. Recent triumphs included Anna Bolena (1830), L'elisir d'amore (1832), and Lucrezia Borgia (1833).

This time, because of the intransigence of San Carlo, he had to hold his horses. The libretto was not forthcoming until July. Six weeks later, Lucia di Lammermoor was finished. The première at San Carlo on 26 September 1837 was another success for the composer from Bergamo. Tacchinardi Persiani was Lucia; Gilbert-Louis Duprez, inventor of the chestful high C, Edgardo. Donizetti wrote excitedly to Ricordi, his publisher: 'Lucia ... allow me amicably to be immodest and tell the truth ... pleased the audience, and pleased it very much, if I am to believe in the applause and in the compliments I received ... Every number was listened to in religious silence then hailed with spontaneous cheers.'